Ukraine war: Russia’s ex-president among 370 new UK sanctions targetson March 15, 2022 at 2:06 pm

The UK has announced 370 more sanctions, with Russia’s former president one of those targeted, in its latest response to the war in Ukraine.

Dmitry Medvedev and President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman are among those to be hit with asset freezes and travel bans.

Earlier, the UK hit Russia with trade restrictions, including an additional 35% tariff on vodka.

The move comes after the passage of new legislation to speed up and harden UK sanctions.

The government fast-tracked the Economic Crime Act through Parliament after criticism that UK had been too slow to target Russians with links to President Putin.

The legislation allows the UK to sanction those who have had their assets frozen by the EU, US or Canada, and take action to stop wealthy Russians using London for money laundering.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu were among the other high-profile allies of President Putin to be sanctioned by the UK.

Others include Mr Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov and Russian Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who the UK government called “Russian propagandists”.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK was “going further and faster than ever in hitting those closest to Putin”.

“We are holding them to account for their complicity in Russia’s crimes in Ukraine,” she said. “Working closely with our allies, we will keep increasing the pressure on Putin and cut off funding for the Russian war machine.”